


Red, The Color of Mockery

by NightmareVirgil



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 18:03:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16330937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightmareVirgil/pseuds/NightmareVirgil
Summary: Hanahaki fic. Self indulgent. Nobody asked for this. Roceit. All the good things in life.





	Red, The Color of Mockery

Deceit never thought this could happen. He knew that he was still unwelcome with the light sides; regardless, he still made an attempt to like them. But he never thought liking them would go this far.

He didn't think much of it when he started coughing, passing it off as a cold. When the flowers started appearing, however, Deceit knew he had a serious problem on his hands. He was grateful that he was alone when he coughed up the first petals, glad that no one could see his horror. The blood on the flowers made them glint in the dim lighting of his room. The petals stared up at him, their dark red hue a mockery of Deceit's emotions.

The meaning of the roses was hard to mistake. Typically, the flower symbolized romance and passion, and the ever creative Roman was certainly that and more. He was, as the name implied, romantic, but he was also brave, somewhat reckless, dramatic, and so sweet to the ones he loved. Deceit often bore witness to these displays of affection, and it saddened him to know that he would never be on the receiving end of such a grand gesture.  
Roman, dramatic, reckless Roman, was perfect in Deceit's eyes.

Compared to the creative side, Deceit was nothing. He was a liar, a snake, and the other sides loved reminding him of it. He knew Roman considered him unworthy of his time, and his only words to the lying side were snarky and hateful. The disgust on Roman's face when he appeared pierced Deceit's heart like a thorn. 

Deceit stared down at the rose petals in his hand and thought back to every interaction between him and the creative. He remembered each hate-filled glare, each snide comment and every hurtful name. His heart stung every time Roman looked at him. Deceit was so caught up in his grief and shock that he didn't notice the tears rolling down his face as he stood there, thinking of things that could never be.

Days passed, and Deceit made fewer and fewer appearances in the commons. He refused to join the sides at meals, hiding in his bed and coughing up flowers. The red petals were appearing more and more, and Deceit just let them stay where they fell. He couldn't bring himself to clean them up, knowing the others wouldn't come in anyways. Deceit only started attempting to clean once blood came up with the flowers.

Now, with every coughing fit came more and more full flowers, and blood. He could feel himself getting weaker with every cough, and knew his end was near. He didn't care, however, and was content to stay in his room coughing up flowers. He would rather die than live with the pain of his unrequited love for Roman. 

Weeks passed like this, and Deceit got closer to death with each passing day. He hadn't made an appearance since the first full flower came up. If any of the other sides cared, he was oblivious to it. They were probably glad he was gone. He could just imagine Roman expressing his gratitude for Deceit's disappearance, and it hurt to think about. He stared at the petals and flowers littering the floor and his bed, and allowed himself to cry as he began coughing hard yet again.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
It was Patton who first noticed Deceit's disappearance. The moral side expressed his concern to the others after a week with very limited appearance from Deceit, but the others brushed it all off. 

"Hey guys, I think something's wrong with Deceit," Patton said one day at dinner, concern lacing his voice. 

"Good, he's dead," Virgil muttered, rolling his eyes. 

"He simply is not welcome here," Logan stated, as if he were reading from a textbook.

"Finally, he's gone!" Roman exclaimed, appearing grateful. Internally, he was more concerned than Patton. He hoped his worry wasn't evident in his voice, and said very little the rest of the meal. A million thoughts raced through his head, none of them good. What if Deceit had tried to kill himself? What if he succeeded?

These kinds of questions filled his mind, leaving no room for anything else. As soon as Roman was finished with dinner, he excused himself and raced up the stairs, going directly to Deceit's door and knocking.

"Deceit?" Roman called hesitantly. A minute went by, and he knocked again.

"Deceit? Are you alright?" Roman allowed his concern to come through his voice, admittedly afraid for the snake. Five minutes passed with no noise from Deceit, so Roman decided to take matters into his own hands. He tested the doorknob, and, surprisingly, it was unlocked. He carefully opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. "Deceit?" 

All the lights in the snakelike side's room were switched off, casting the room into nest darkness. The only source of light was the faint moonlight filtering through the curtains. Roman walked over to the window, flinching when something crunched under his foot. Quickly, he moved to the window, opening the curtains to let the light in. The sight that greeted Roman came as a shock.

Roses and rose petals covered the floor, and dried blood rested on a few. The room was overpowered by the scent of the flowers, and the room was so dark that Roman almost couldn't find Deceit. When he finally laid eyes on the liar, his heart stopped.  
The side in question lay motionless on the bed. From Roman's position, he looked pale and sickly. He appeared motionless, with no sign of breathing or life. 

Roman moved closer, terrified now. "Deceit..." he muttered, standing next to the bed and carefully pulling Deceit closer. Now, Roman could see the faint rise and fall of Deceit's chest, and he breathed a small sigh of relief before noticing the fresh blood and roses surrounding Deceit. 

As Roman stared, the lying side began coughing again, body convulsing with the force of it before stopping all motion completely. By the fragile petals that fell from the snakelike side's mouth, Roman's hypothesis was confirmed. "Deceit..."

Roman raced back to the door, flinging it open and shouting for Patton before returning to Deceit, this time kneeling next to the bed. At this new angle, the moonlight illuminated Deceit's scales and made him appear to be sleeping. Roman felt tears forming as he reached into his pocket, pulling a few dandelions from it and setting them next to Deceit's head.

"If only you had told me..." he mumbled before collapsing to the ground, sobbing. Yellow flowers spilled from his mouth as he coughed and sobbed, mourning the loss of his unrequited love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy reading about tortured Deceit as much as I enjoy writing it!


End file.
